Lost Stars

xviii. radiation

The sound of Elle's heels hitting the cobblestone staircase that lead towards Jack's front door came at a steady but upbeat rhythm as she slightly threw her head back at the beautiful flashes of memories that she was living just moments ago. The celebration was absolutely grand, and no amount of money was spared as the entire banquet hall was adorned with precious jewels of every kind, but none shined brighter than the love that has all the right to be celebrated so splendidly. The love between Jack's parents seemed absolutely flawless that it almost seemed like the expensive event wasn't enough to honor the adoration they had for each other that was still shining as bright as it did when they first saw each other.

The food was absolutely divine as they hired the most talented and prestigious chefs to serve. Everyone that they held close to their hearts gave a heartfelt speech, but none provoked tears in their eyes like how the closest thing that they had did. Jack's demeanor of the mysterious lone wolf was demolished, and the man who attended the event and stood proudly on the stage giving a beautifully written speech was a son who couldn't have felt more blessed to have genuinely wonderful parents who only gave him their purest forms of love.

His parents were also pleased to have met the girl who has grasped their son's heart with both hands. They talked about how he came out of his shell now that she was in his life and how it seemed like he was now the best version of himself ever since they met, which was a very sweet thing to say.

The night couldn't have went better as it was ended with another slow dance that granted Elle the satisfaction of intimacy with Jack. She remembered the feeling of his warm hand on her lower back, while the other was wrapped around hers with the promise of eternal love. His eyes shined brighter than all the stars of the Galaxy gathered together in an interstellar symphony, and she couldn't keep her eyes off of his face that was absolutely touched by heaven. Soon after they were submerged in darkness as the lights started to dim, he cradled her jaw with both hands and give her a kiss that sparked a thousand fireworks.

Her lips still tingled from the sensation of what love might feel like as she ran her hand over his knuckles, while he allowed her to lead him up to the front door. She couldn't help it but the memory of the groundbreaking kiss made her fingers come up to her lips and actually smile about it. Jack soon did the gentlemanly thing to do and opened the door for her and allowing her back into the place where no one other than his parents entered. He placed his hands over her shoulder and took her coat off before tossing it over the armrest of the couch.

"Thanks for bringing me to the party tonight, Jack. I really enjoyed it." Elle genuinely meant every word as she sat on another couch. She couldn't help but dig deeper into what seemed like a never ending abyss of mesmerizing affection for this man as she watched him shrug his coat off and laying it over the island before he went to the other side and flipped through the few letters he received.

But it seemed like one of the letters has caught his attention as she noticed that he suddenly froze in place. Her eyebrows furrowed with concern as he threw the others back down and focused all of his attention on that one letter that could be about anything. She flipped through all the possibly bad things he could have received. It couldn't have been grades, since she knew that Jack was quite intelligent. That also ruled out expulsion, since he hasn't done anything that could be filed under delinquency. Those were the two things that could have possibly happened.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Elle could no longer handle the suspense, and she stood up and slowly approached him with every intention of looking at what could have flooded him with a terrifying combination of shock and terror. Each step brought her closer to her anxiety, but she couldn't even graze the horrific envelope with the tips of her fingers, since he shoved them down in his pants pocket before she could get it. "It's nothing.Its just the bill, and no one likes getting those."